


from her web

by PinkWisp



Series: recoding [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 07:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19057927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkWisp/pseuds/PinkWisp
Summary: Talon's elite team has the highest success rate for a reason. It was skill, instinct, but above all preparation. Years of experience honed everything into a highly calibrated machine. So when something shifts, the entire team feels it. Widowmaker noticed first, only because the other pair of observant eyes was the fault in the system. Sombra.





	from her web

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> takes place before chapter 1 of duality of three

Talon's elite team has the highest success rate for a reason. It was skill, instinct, but above all preparation. Years of experience honed everything into a highly calibrated machine. So when something shifts, the entire team feels it.

Widowmaker noticed first, only because the other pair of observant eyes was the fault in the system. Sombra, both surprising and unsurprising. As frustrating as the women was, Widowmaker couldn't deny the results.

She refused to acknowledge them either. But as always Sombra _knows_ and taunts until a flicker of something passes over Widow's face. It's an annoyances that makes her fingers itch and crave for the weight of her sniper.

Perhaps that restlessness was why she was spending  more time outside her room and more time carefully cleaning Widow's Kiss in the team's private practice range and workshop. Anywhere far from Sombra.

Usually the hacker would be lurking around common areas, the break room, hallways, elevators, always looking for information and gossip. The team rarely saw Sombra actually _prepare_ for the mission other than casual glances of the dossiers on the transport.

So when the door opens and an automatic " _Salut_ , Reaper," left her mouth she got an amused giggle and another _friendly_ taunt.

"Eyes not as sharp as everyone thinks _. Ay, araña_?"

Widowmaker tensed, slamming the magazine in with a loud click. Slowly her golden eyes wandered up, focusing on Sombra. After working so long together Widowmaker was starting to see through the coy act, the little hints of uneasiness. It was the slight unchoreographed shuffled of her legs, the twitch that hid a wince and impulse to break eye contact. Sometimes during their meals together it was a lingering glance.

When Sombra finally buckled under her intense gaze she gave that irritating sigh that sounded too much like a song, "What? Not up for some _team bonding?"_ She asked.

Grief is an excellent way of bonding. Flashes of blood and Sombra's mortified face replaced everything for a split second. Widowmaker took a deep and silent breath, thanking Lady Luck that Sombra hadn't seen whatever face she was making.

The hacker set down box on her unused workbench, electric parts rattling and shifting. She turned with practiced grace, hands smooth and flowing. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your Mandatta mission. Feels good not being top dog anymore, too much work maintaining it."

The weight of Widow's Kiss was far too tempting. It must have shown on the sniper's face because that coy and playful flare _increased_. Sombra's hips swayed, feet perfectly inline as the hacker walked towards the assassin.

"Too bad Tracer was _too fast_ for you," Sombra rolled her palm open. A clip of Widowmaker freefalling with that foolish girl and the omnic lined up. It played in slow motion while her lazy heart beat just a little faster.

The recording wasn't edited. Widowmaker remembered the smile that shouldn't be on her face, the _joy_ of the hunt. Sombra was wearing that smile now, prowling forward.

Tracer wasn't quick. Widow didn't need to jump from the roof to take the shot.

She just. Didn't. Shoot.

Widowmaker _let_ that foolish girl live long enough to run, making her pray for another. Her fingers danced on the trigger guard. She expected blackmail but Sombra's eyes pointedly flicked to the small movement and gave a disarming huff.

"I'd be rusty too, with that pathetic system."

At that Widow paused and raised a brow. The tension in her shoulders eased but her fingers didn't leave trigger. Sombra giggled, booping her nose as she lead the sniper to the practice range.

The entire course of adapting hard-light technology glowed purple at Sombra's touch, "I'll be happy to lift the safety protocols for a friend." She offered in that mockingly tune. Widowmaker eyed the hard-light nails hovering over the confirmation button.

The sniper didn't answer, neither accepting or declining the help as she entered the range. The empty room slowly filled with a recreation of London's urban environment. Again that musical sigh struck a chord in Widow, fingers flexing on the trigger guard.

"You know where to find me, _when_ you get bored, _araña!"_ Sombra called out, her laugh echoing off the fake bricks and workshop.

Annoyance seemed to improve Widowmaker's performance. She finished the usual routine a minute earlier with the usual perfect marks. The bot's AI was frustratingly predictable. A few times her attention had slipped to the soft music echoing into the range. She only hit the training bots out habit.

Despite the music blaring around Sombra's area, she knew the hacker could hear the steady flicking of her heels. The focused pout grew into a knowing smirk, the soft singing got louder and out of tune, just to piss off Widow. She didn't look up from whatever new toy she was creating.

Practice was disappointing, frustration over the past few days was mounting and then a particularly sour note had Widow acting with little thought. The warm barrel lifted into that comfortable shooting position.

Sombra followed it, eyes glowing brighter and shooting wide with the click of an empty chamber.

Widow could practically hear Sombra's heart pounding. She hummed, all too _pleased_ to have finally stripped the hacker out of that coy armor.

"Cute. Surprise is a good look for you, _mon amie_." Widow _purred_. It wasn't the same high as a kill but close enough. For a second those implants flowed bright, causing the quick flush across Sombra's face. The sniper committed the look to memory, gold eyes holding her gaze, "Shut off the safety protocols."

Sombra needed to swallow some air so the answer came out rushed, "Sure thing."

Widowmaker should have known Sombra would have gotten revenge in some fashion. The next simulation that was _near_ improbably. Given enough time Councilor O'Deorain could probably manufacture something that sent people into a near feral state.

Hordes of… _zombies_ , raced at Widowmaker at all angles. The city was in ruin, streets littered with cars and flaming buildings made it a challenge to get any distance with her grappling hook. She shot a dangling piece of rubble to barricade them off but instead three more were created from hard-light to lunge at her.

Widow scowled. Of course, the practice range wasn't replacing the bots but _creating_ them whenever she fired her rifle. With one shot she took down two bots. Three more were created before her.

Exactly three.

Once she figured out the rules to Sombra's game, winning it was easy. It took half an hour for Widowmaker to finish Sombra's simulation. A few bots had manage to land a scratch or two.

Interestingly enough Sombra looked far worse. Whatever she was creating exploded in her face, charring formerly chrome polish metal and burning her lip. Her hands were already bandaged and held the already used fire extinguish with some effort.

"Shut up." Sombra barked with no malice. Widow didn't realize her lips were smiling till they twitched up a little more. Sombra pouted, holding the muzzle of the fire extinguish at her.

Widow scoffed, "I wouldn'lt feel it-" She didn't. But the gasp of surprise was still pulled from her when the foam hit her torso. Sombra laughed an unfamiliar and unpracticed rhythm before translocating to safety.

Leaving Widow alone with the loud Spanish music and clanking fire extinguisher. Good. It took too long for her conditioning to shake off the shock. After a quick cleanup and change the sniper cleaned Widow's Kiss and her area.

Sombra had drank several cans of soda and it was starting to infect the Widow's space. She neatly placed them on Sombra's workbench, then went to work picking up the scraps of paper that fell from the overflowing trash bin. That too was neatly piled onto Sombra's bench until a thin chained pendent fell out of one.

It wasn't the hackers sugar skull but the concept was nearly the same. A logo in the shape of a pentagon instead of Sombra's hexagon. It was… not Sombra's, Widow decided placing it around her neck.

The simple metal was… unsettling and familiar. For a moment she felt as though she lost more jewelry, checking her wrist for accessories that _Widowmaker_ never wore.

After that the sniper started to take more care in cleaning the armory and piling all the trash onto Sombra's desk. All of the scrapped paper were written in languages the sniper couldn’t understand, from Japanese to Polynesian.

Breakfast the next morning was… a little interesting. Widowmaker arrived not a second late and meet her team at the usual table in the mess hall. Councilor O'Deorain and Reaper already looked annoyed with whatever tale or gossip Sombra was tell them about until the sniper actually listened.

"She aimed her rifle right at me and _pulled the trigger_."

Both council members rolled their eyes, "You are _never_ in our armory," Reaper pointed out.

"And you are very much alive," Councilor O'Deorain drawled voice dancing on that fine line of amusement and annoyance.

"It was empty and I was yesterday! Right, _araña_?"

" _Oui,_ " Widow agreed. "She turned off the safety protocols. I was swarmed during a simulation." The sniper hadn't bothered gesturing to the healing cuts on her arms. The other two threw accusatory glares at the hacker.

Sombra let out an offended gasp small enough to go unnoticed by untrained eyes. By the look on her face it wasn’t a ploy either, but Sombra recovered quickly. "You asked!"

An order was not a request. Widowmaker huffed, "I did not such thing." She said hiding a smile behind a drink. She knew Sombra saw it, the glow in her eyes a little bright and _playful_. The hacker didn't follow up on any of it but shifted the conversation to another gossip.

"Vialli has been rather interested in Russia lately."

"For profit, per usual," Councilor O'Deorain replied.

Then they fell into the usual pattern. Sombra gossiping, trading information while trying to steal some from O'Deorain and Reaper. Occasionally she'll steal food from them as well, but today it was more from Widow's plate. This time literally taking bites from her fork.

"Augments take up energy," She said with a smile. Then suddenly her playful demeanor was gone, violet glowing eyes locked onto the metal resting at the base of Widow's throat.

"… Looks good on you. The blue." Was all she said before rambling on about Councilor Korpol. "He's having some trouble in Rio, right?"

Breakfast finished, disappointingly normal. Until Sombra decided to develop a new habit and followed Widowmaker out. She happily chatted away, filling silence until they were in the quieter halls of Talon's elite.

"You would have liked them. Smart, resourceful. Shame they turned out to be such a _coward_." It was the venom in Sombra's voice that made Widow focus on her rambling.

"You killed them?"

For the second time Sombra's coy armor was gone. Widow didn't find the same joy in her horrified and furious face though. It was too easy and more importantly _she_ didn't _mean_ to cause it.

"No… Dead canaries don't sing," Sombra muttered softly, more to herself than to Widow.

That night the armory was quieter than usual. Sombra had her latino pop playing but it wasn't echoing off the walls like yesterday. For once Widowmaker was able to focus on her work around the hacker yet her eyes kept drifting up every so often.

Sombra had cleaned her workstation, keeping the overfilling trash bin close by. None of the crumpled papers were shoved into it. They were all pinned to a board with Sombra's hard-light screens hovering nearby.

Widow adjusted something on the Widow's Kiss and ran a normal simulation. It didn't fix the restlessness in her like it usually did. And her eyes kept wandering back to Sombra. It took another failed prototype to for the sniper to realize Sombra was trying to decode the writings.

The hacker pulled back from the sparking gadget. Spanish curses drowned out the singing and the power was pulled from the wall. Another failed prototype bounced off the stuffed trash bin.

Widowmaker picked it up, the heat warming her palms for a few seconds. "What are you making?"

Sombra glanced at her, that coy armor worn thin by frustration and something else. "A scrambler. I… accidentally- Okay I completely trashed the one _they_ made." She gestured to Widowmaker's new pendent.

Widowmaker glared lightly. For such a smart women she was being incredibly foolish. "Ask. You kept them alive for a reason, yes?"

Sombra balked at the suggestion. But her eyes kept lingering on the pendent. Then something clicked, face finally brightening and easing the tension from Widow's shoulders. "How about this? I set up a new simulation. You beat it and I'll contact them again."

"Only if it will be challenging this time."

Widowmaker followed Sombra to the practice range again. The room took on Sombra's violet and pink hue. "Alright… _Asústame, Panteón!"_ Sombra said. She started the simulation.  
**Show me what you got

The location was somewhere in Japan, a beautiful mix of modern and ancient buildings. Widowmaker expected something foolish again, perhaps a horde of flying manta rays. Instead there was a lone women, ideally  entertaining herself by rocking on her heels and swaying a sickle by the chain.

The bot's bright cyan eyes studied them, head cocked to the side curiously. Then a grin that was far too polite for a posture that mimicked O'Deorains predatory nature. There was a flourishing bow with the scheming signs Sombra had.

Widowmaker was already moving but the swift throw send a sickle inches from her face. The bot was as fast as Tracer and as smart as Sombra, planning several moves ahead. The second chain sickle embedded itself into the ground next to her and the bot was flying fast towards her.

She could aim and pull the trigger faster than she could dodge. The moment her rifle raised those sickles were pulled from the ground and feet kicked the women into a roll. Widowmaker missed her window by millisecond.

The moment she shot those feet were planted on the ground again the bot jerked to a stop, flinching as the bullet sailed into the space she should have been.

Widowmaker had another shot lined up but the bot… laughed? Again that grin, a wink and playful nature that had Widow hesitating long enough for her to dash into a random alley.

The sniper took the chance to grapple onto a perch. This bot's AI didn't feel very artificial. Curiously infra-sight showed the bot waiting, clinging to a wall instead of pathing to Widowmaker's location. She slowly crept to the edge of a building, a venom mine prepped around the corner while the sniper aimed for the window just inches above the bot.

Widow heart took an extra beat.

A normal bot would have moved to be shot in either direction. This one carefully stuck the sickle around the corner, using it as a mirror before the mine was triggered. She coughed, running from wall to wall and retreating even further.

Widowmaker chased, on the edge of that high the hunt gave her. Eventually the venom became too much, tumbling to the ground with a hard thud. Widowmaker aimed but as she pulled the trigger her gold eyes noticed the reflection in the blades.

A grin and a wink.

A sickle sliced the bullet in half another nicked Widow's cheek and dug deep into the wall behind her. Once again the women pulled herself _straight towards the sniper_.

Widow refused to run.

She pulled the sickle out of the wall and resumed aiming. That smirk was finally off the women's face. The Widow's Kiss was only half charged when a restless finger pulled the trigger.

The bot fell and nothing splattered on the artificial floors beneath her. It dulled the adrenaline that warmed her cold skin, though it felt more satisfying that some low priority missions.

Widowmaker left the practice range as it powered down. Sombra sat on the sniper's workbench, legs crossed and hands clapping. It was a weak attempting of keeping face, the playful joy wasn't glowing in her eyes.

"I won."

Sombra gave a conflicted smile but proud smile. "Yeah… you did."

Widowmaker's eyes narrowed. She was all too aware of how many shots were still in the chamber. "Who was that?"

Sombra's eyes lingered on the pendant again, " _Pullito,_ a chicken, a selfish coward." She gave a sigh that lacked much of that musical tone. Widow's fingers itched. Somehow it was worse that was worse than her playful annoyance. Sombra laughed booping Widow's noise, "Why the pout, _spider?"_

Widow scoffed and rolled her eyes. She didn't answer because she _wasn't_ pouting. Instead she cleaned Widow's Kiss again, listening to Sombra rant about this cowardly… _friend_.


End file.
